Hazardous contaminated waste materials are encountered on both land and in water bodies. Drill apparatus and methods for in-situ fluid treatment of contaminated soils are disclosed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/514,404, filed on Apr. 26, 1990. The present application is directed to a water body treatment system for sedimentary silt, sludge, hazardous waste, or other contaminated material which has settled in a lake, river, canal, pond, lagoon or like water body. Typically in industrial areas, for example, heavy metal such as lead, cadmium, chromium, mercury, may be present in the bottom of water bodies, which may contaminate water supply, swimming areas, fish, or otherwise create an environmental problem requiring remedy.
Conventional methods usually involve dredging with a need for hauling contaminated material to appropriate dump sites, which may be remote from the dredging site. In some cases, chemical or microbiological treatment has been attempted or proposed with accompanying problems of feasible distribution and containment.